Heating accessory for use with fireplaces

ABSTRACT

A forced air heating system including a heat exchanger for placement along the back wall of a fireplace. Ait intake and air exhaust structures are in opposed placement adjacent the fireplace opening with ducting routing air to and from the heat exchanger. A fan and motor assembly are housed within said air intake structure while baffle means in the exhaust structure serve to channel air therethrough. Said intake and exhaust structures are interchangeable to reverse the direction of airflow through the system to best accomplish room heating.

United States Patent Jones [76] Inventor: Robert E. Jones, 3650 West IAmazon, Eugene, Oreg. 97405 {22] Filed: Mar. 8, 1974 121] Appl. No.:449,254

[52] U.S. Cl. 126/121, 126/131 [51] Int. Cl. F24b 7/00 [58] Field ofSearch 126/121, 128, 129, 130, 126/131 [56] References Cited 1 UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2,359,197 /1944 Brooks 126/121 2,362,526 11/1944 Austin II 126/121 2,743,720 5/1944 D0llinger.... 126/121 2,828,078 3/1958Snodgrass 126/121 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 74,394 12/1948Norway 126/121 V HEATING ACCESSORY FOR USE WITH FIREPLACES PrimaryExaminerWilliam F. ODea Assistant Examiner-Peter D. Ferguson Attorney,Agent, or Firm-James D, Givnan, Jr.

ABSTRACT 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEB FEB1 81975 HEATINGACCESSORY FOR USE WITH FIREPLACES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Theinstant invention relates generally to fireplaces and more specificallyto structure for placement therein for supplementing the heatingcapability of a conventional fireplace. I

It is well accepted that conventional fireplace structures are thermallyinefficient. While heat from the fire is radiated into the room area asubstantial portion of heated room air is drawn into the fireplace andexhausted via the fireplace flue. Fireplaces in modern homes may besaid, for the most part, to be primarily aesthetic in purpose ratherthan functional.

Within the known prior art are disclosures of many efforts directedtoward remedying the heating inefficiency of fireplaces which effortstypically call for the installation of ducting, plenums, fans, etc.,during assembly of the fireplace while the home is under construction.while no doubt these arrangements serve to increase the thermal outputof a fireplace they do so only at considerable additional cost. Further,such arrangements are often objectionable as they detract from room andfireplace appearance. In general, the use of supplemental heatingstructures for fireplaces has not found wide favor with the public withthe result that present day fireplaces in modern homes are of thesimplest, least efficient construction. The advent of fuel shortages andincreased fuel costs emphasize the importance of increasing fireplaceefficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is embodied within anindependent, metal structure having components for placement into andadjacent an existing fireplace of conventional masonry construction.Accordingly, the present system is adapted for use with existingfireplace struc tures without modification thereof and importantly doesnot detract from the aesthetic values of the fireplace area. Attractiveair inlet and outlet structures placed adjacent the fireplace openingefficiently provide a continuous flow of forced air lengthwise throughthe plenum of a heat exchanger and thence back into the room for exhaustaway from the fireplace opening. Such inlet and outlet structures areinterchangeable to best suit the heating requirements of the room orliving area.

Among the important objectives of the invention are: the provision of aforced air heating system for detachable placement within an existingfireplace to efficiently utilize fireplace heat which otherwise to alarge extent is wasted; the provision of a forced air heating systemwherein components are interchangeable to permit reversing the directionof airflow for optimum heating; the provision of a heating system foruse in conjunction with a conventional fireplace wherein air intake andexhaust components are of an attractive nature for placement on thefireplace hearth, said components contributing to the attractiveness ofthe fireplace area; the provision of a heating system of low cost, du-

' rable construction for installation without fireplace modification andremovable therefrom without alteration to the fireplace structure; theprovision of a heating system wherein exposed components may simulateother items found in a living area such as stereo speaker components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. I is a frontal perspective view of the present heating system shownoperatively in association with a conventional fireplace and hearth,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the heating system of FIG. I with fireplace andhearth outlines shown in dashed lines,

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the heat exchanger taken along line 3-3of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the air intake structure with the topwall removed therefrom for purposes of illustration only, and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the air exhaust structure with the topwall removed therefrom for purposes of illustration only.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continuingattention to the accompanying drawing wherein applied reference numeralsindicate parts similarly identified in the following description, thereference numeral 1 indicates generally a fireplace opening, saidfireplace typically including a floor 2, side walls 3 and a forwardlyinclined back wall 4, all being well known and of the type commonlyfound in the home. Normally used within such fireplaces is a grate 5 orother support for a fuel burned. The fireplace and grate structure mayobviously vary from that illustrated without impairing use of thefollowing described heating system embodying the present invention.

Indicatedat 10 is an upright wall of a metal heat exchanger of thepresent invention which is integral with a base plate 11 in place on thefireplace floor. With attention to FIGS. 2 and 3, a plenum I2 is jointlydefined by the rear surface 10A of upright wall 10 and a pan shapedsheet metal structure 13 secured at its perimeter to said rear wallsurface. Base 11 of the plenum structure may support grate 5 with thefuel in place thereon being located in close proximity to heat exchangerwall 10 for efficient radiant heating of the wall and particularlyinterior surface 10A thereof. Plenum structure 13 is heated primarily byconduction to provide, along with wall surface 10A, opposing heatradiating surfaces. Either or both of said surfaces may be of anirregular nature to promote heat transfer to the passing airflow.

Supplying a flow of air to one end of plenum 12 is a duct 14 whichextends outwardly from the plenum along a fireplace side wallterminating in communication with a flexible duct segment 15.

With attention to FIG. 4, an air intake structure 16 is of rectangularbox shape and houses a fan and motor assembly 17. A collar 18 projectsrearwardly from a back wall 19 of structure 16 for telescopic engagementwith flexible duct 15. An end wall 20 of the structure defines an airintake opening 20A which may be covered with porous, attractive fabricwhich fabric may additionally be applied to a closed front wall 21 and aremaining end wall 22 for appearance purposes. Such an appearance aswell as that of a companion structure may be closelyakin to that of astereo speaker commonly found in living and recreation rooms of thehouse. A top wall 23 and bottom wall 24 are closed and, as laterelaborated upon, may serve alternately as a base. Internally within saidstructure is an angularly disposed baffle 25 directing the output of fanand motor assembly 17 towards outlet collar 18. Fan and motor assembly17 are preferably of the type wherein the motor is in axial relationshipto the fan with the fan blades disposed about the motor housing forcompactness and with an air delivery capacity of approximately 1 l cfm.One suitable type of fan and motor assembly is that marketed under theregistered trademark BOXER.

' With attention to FIGS. 2 and 5, an exhaust structure at 30 isdesirably of the same configuration and outer appearance as the earlierdescribed air intake structure. A plenum exhaust duct 26 is intelescopic connection with a flexible duct segment 27 to serve anexhaust structure 30. Cooperating baffle plates at 31-32 are disposed ina diagonal manner to channel a heated airflow therebetween. A collar at33 on the back wall 34 of the structure is in telescopic communicationwith flexible duct segment 27 to receive heated air which is diverted bybaffles 31-32 for exhaust into the room area via an opening 36A in afront wall 36 of the exhaust structure. End walls 37-38 as is the casewith rear wall 34 are of closed construction. In a manner similar to theintake structure, top and bottom walls are indicated at 40-41. Heatresistant porous fabric is applied to the front and end walls to matchthe appearance of the air intake unit. Further, insulative panels (notshown) are applied to the internal walls of the air exhaust unit forsafety reasons. From the foregoing it will be seen that the air intakeand exhaust structures are externally identical to the extent they maybe interchanged by simply transposing and inverting same. The airflow,accordingly will be reversed through the system opposite to thedirection indicated by the applied arrows in H6. 2. The homeowner mayaccordingly set up the system to most efficiently heat the room or toavoid exhausting heated air towards a room thermostat.

To regulate airflow fan and motor assembly 17 may be of the variablespeed type or alternatively the wall openings A, 36A ofthe intake andexhaust structures may be provided with adjustable plates to curtail airpassage.

While 1 have shown but oneembodiment of the invention, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that.the invention may be embodiedstill otherwise without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be secured undera Letters Patent is:

l. A forced air heating system for placement within and forwardlyadjacent a conventional fireplace opening, said fireplace having a pairof side walls, a bottom wall and a back wall, said system comprising,

an elongate heat exchanger for placement lengthwise along the back wallof a fireplace rearward of a heat source, said heat exchanger defining aplenum therewithin for the reception of a pressurized flow of air, aheat exchanger base plate for the reception of a superimposed fireplacegrate, an upright heat exchanger wall integral with said base plate andpartially defining said plenum,

an air intake structure disposed exteriorly adjacent the fireplaceopening and including a fan and motor assembly, a collar locatedadjacent one end of the air intake structure,

an air exhaust structure also disposed exteriorly adjacent the fireplaceopening oppositely from the air intake structure, a collar locatedadjacent one end of the air exhaust structure,

said air intake and exhaust structures having corresponding externalwall members of identical configuration and appearance rendering thestructures identical in appearance, and

air duct means extending intermediate said intake structure and heatexchanger and intermediate the latter and the air exhaust structure indetachable connection to the collars of each said structures whereby theair duct means may be detached from the air intake and air exhauststructures permitting the latter to be interchanged for one another toreverse the flow of heated air therethrough for optimum room heatingwithout altering the appearance of the heating system.

2. The heating system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said air intake andexhaust structures include top and bottom walls, said structures beinginvertible coincident with the interchanging of same for rested supporton either of said walls during system operation.

1. A forced air heating system for placement within and forwardlyadjacent a conventional fireplace opening, said fireplace having a pairof side walls, a bottom wall and a back wall, said system comprising, anelongate heat exchanger for placement lengthwise along the back wall ofa fireplace rearward of a heat source, said heat exchanger defining aplenum therewithin for the reception of a pressurized flow of air, aheat exchanger base plate for the reception of a superimposed fireplacegrate, an upright heat exchanger wall integral with said base plate andpartially defining said plenum, an air intake structure disposedexteriorly adjacent the fireplace opening and including a fan and motorassembly, a collar located adjacent one end of the air intake structure,an air exhaust structure also disposed exteriorly adjacent the fireplaceopening oppositely from the air intake structure, a collar locatedadjacent one end of the air exhaust structure, said air intake andexhaust structures having corresponding external wall members ofidentical configuration and appearance rendering the structuresidentical in appearance, and air duct means extending intermediate saidintake structure and heat exchanger and intermediate the latter and theair exhaust structure in detachable connection to the collars of eachsaid structures whereby the air duct means may be detached from the airintake and air exhaust structures permitting the latter to beinterchanged for one another to reverse the flow of heated airtherethrough for optimum room heating without altering the appearance ofthe heating system.
 2. The heating system as claimed in claim 1 whereinsaid air intake and exhaust structures include top and bottom walls,said structures being invertible coincident with the interchanging ofsame for rested support on either of said walls during system operation.